Former Chinese Commander Warns of War If Japan Shoots Down Drone

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A retired Chinese military commander
warned Japan that attacking China’s drones would represent the
“first shot” of a war, adding to tensions over islands claimed
by both sides in the East China Sea.

China should attack Japanese planes over the islands as a
“minimum response,” Wang Hongguang, former deputy commander of
the Nanjing military region, wrote in the Global Times today.

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be “mentally
prepared,” Wang wrote. “China has many kinds of
countermeasures from low intensity to high intensity.” The
Global Times said in July that Wang had retired recently.

Wang’s commentary echoes warnings by China’s Defense
Ministry after Japan’s Sankei newspaper said the country may
consider new rules allowing it to shoot down unmanned aircraft
that enter its airspace. The islands, known as Diaoyu in Chinese
and Senkaku in Japanese, are at the center of a diplomatic
quarrel between Asia’s two biggest economies.

Japan deployed fighter jets in September when an
unidentified aerial drone was spotted near the islands, that
country’s Defense Ministry said.

“China’s weight is too big, and its economic strength has
surpassed Japan and the gap continues to widen,” Wang wrote.
“China’s military power has advanced by huge strides, each navy
may have its strong points and China’s overall military strength
is far higher than Japan’s.”

Shooting down drones would provoke a decisive response from
China, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in comments
posted to the ministry’s website Oct. 26.

In a sign of continued tension, a Chinese research vessel
entered Japan’s exclusive economic zone near the disputed
islands for a second day, Kyodo News reported on Nov. 2, citing
Japan’s coast guard.